How to Sell a Parent’s House After Death

Selling a parent’s house after they’ve passed can be a difficult and stressful time. Inherited properties usually involve the probate process and a lot of discussion with family members, plus executors of the will.

However, selling a parent’s house doesn’t have to be difficult, stressful, or drawn out. By taking the right steps, an inherited house can be sold quickly and easily, without hassle.

Keep reading to learn how to sell a parent’s house after a death in the family.

1. Review Things With the Family

Family comes first in both life and real estate. When it comes to the matter of selling a parent’s house after death, speak to your family to figure out several things:

• Who wants to be involved in figuring out what to do with the home
• Who legally should be involved in the process
• If anyone in the family wants to keep the property

When we work with homeowners who have recently inherited a property, it’s helpful to have all the cooks in the kitchen from the get-go. Oftentimes, when preparing to sell a house, not everyone that should be involved is initially. This can obviously cause drama, disagreement, and conflict within the family.

So, it’s important to gather everyone who wants to be (or should be) involved in the process of selling your parent’s house. Talk amongst yourselves about what you, as a cohesive group, want to do before contacting any local real estate companies.

During this process of talking to your family, you may realize that one of your siblings wants to keep the home. This is great news as you won’t have to go through the process of selling the property.

Plus, by getting your family involved from the start, you get in front of potential issues that can arise later. This is key if you want to sell a house quickly without any hassle.

2. Decide How to Sell Your Mom’s House

There are various ways that you can sell a parent’s house after death. For example, you can sell the property with a realtor. This is the most common way that families sell houses. The agent will list the property on Zillow or Opendoor and handle the marketing for you.

Depending on the condition of the property, it may be a good idea to clean the house and repair certain things. It may also be a good idea to organize and remove sentimental items throughout your mother’s home. You can sell a house as-is on the MLS, however, you may be deterring certain homebuyers that are looking for a turnkey place to purchase.

iBuyers, like Opendoor, are another option for families in this type of situation. You can sell your mother’s house directly to a large iBuyer. There are pros and cons to working with a real estate company like this. You lose the personal connection of working with a local homebuyer because Opendoor is a huge corporation.

Companies like this also might not always have your best interest in mind when buying your mom’s property. They also do not purchase homes in every market throughout the United States.

For example, if you live in San Diego, CA you will likely have opportunities to sell your house to iBuyers. Real estate companies that buy using cash are easier to deal with from the sellers’ perspective. However, if you’re mother’s property is located somewhere rural, iBuyers usually won’t be interested.

Lastly, you can sell your mother’s home to a local investor. They typically don’t require you to fix or clean anything in the property before the purchase of the home. Oftentimes, investors will buy homes paying cash versus a traditional loan.

One of the best ways to find a local investor is to ask a realtor in your area who is well-connected within the real estate industry. They may know someone interested in buying your home that doesn’t require you to fix anything.

3. Gather Important Items

After you’ve decided how you want to sell your parent’s house, it’s important to begin gathering important items within the property. There is no right or wrong way to do this, as you can keep the items, sell them, or donate furniture to others.

However, if you absolutely know that there are items you want to keep within the family, getting a head start will save you time later in the process. For example, are their sentimental fixtures throughout the property that are valuable? You may want to keep them to resell.

Perhaps there is dining room furniture that you want to keep. Make sure that you get on these things early. Family members usually like to keep practical items, such as kitchen appliances or yard tools when possible. Gathering important items out of your mom’s house will make it easier to sell the property when the time comes.

Summary

Selling a parent’s house, even in-laws (like selling a father-in-law’s property) can be a difficult time. But there are steps to follow to make the process easier and quicker, with fewer headaches and arguments.

If you need help selling an inherited property quickly, we can help. At Brotherly Love Real Estate, we’re experienced in selling houses on behalf of anyone. We know how to work with families and can offer guidance throughout the entire process.

When selling a property to us, we don’t charge closing fees and we can take a property off your hands in as little as 21 days. Contact our expert team today to learn more.